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We imported a large amount of email addresses several weeks ago for our RE records, and the list that we had received was in all uppercase characters, which was not an issue for us at the time. This month, when we exported the list of email addresses for an email blast, the [different] mailing agency balked at our list and nearly wouldn't take it because so many of the email addresses that we had were in all capital letters. Does anyone know of a way to knock all the uppercase email addresses to lowercase in RE?
I know that it doesn't make a difference - email protocols look for characters and are not case sensitive - so it's kind of a hassle to even have to find out about this, but I don't really feel like fighting with the mailhouse every time we want to do a emailing, and I certainly am not going to take the time to re-enter each address manually so that they can have it in the "proper" lowercase format - it was something like 10K email addresses. Any suggestions?
what i would try is using import to create an import file of the email addresses. then open it in word--under the format menu is an option to change case. change it all to lowercase, and re-import.
Or export them all into Excel and use the =proper function to take away all the caps, then import an update. I always do this on email addresses and names before importing into RE. Why do people write their details all in CAPS? I don't get it...
Or export them all into Excel and use the =proper function to take away all the caps, then import an update. I always do this on email addresses and names before importing into RE. Why do people write their details all in CAPS? I don't get it...
I think for the same reason some people write in all lowercase...laziness. In my opinion receiving email in all lowercase shows ignorance and/or disrespect.
__________________ Michael J. Sherman
Database Administrator Sarasota Orchestra (name change 9/3/08)
The new Florida West Coast Symphony
Ow - that hurts! I see lowercase emails as a kind of e.e. cummings/stream-of-consciousness style. And if an UPPERCASE email is like shouting, then maybe a lowercase email is speaking softly?
__________________ Andrea Shlasko
Database Manager
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast Inc.
"Just another day in Paradise, where every meal's a banquet and every day's a holiday"
I think for the same reason some people write in all lowercase...laziness. In my opinion receiving email in all lowercase shows ignorance and/or disrespect.
I was just talking about entering their details on a form, as in name, address, etc... but anyway, on your point we agree because I find it rude that someone would not use proper casing in an email or text - it really is laziness.
Ow - that hurts! I see lowercase emails as a kind of e.e. cummings/stream-of-consciousness style. And if an UPPERCASE email is like shouting, then maybe a lowercase email is speaking softly?
If I get an all lowercase email (or text) I immediately think of that person as being very young, i.e. too young to know any better. It gives me a really bad impression of them. When you think about it - would you send an all lowercase letter? I know an email isn't the same thing, but when we think about what the difference is, it becomes fairly clear.
I was just talking about entering their details on a form, as in name, address, etc... but anyway, on your point we agree because I find it rude that someone would not use proper casing in an email or text - it really is laziness.
Maybe they use caps on forms as a holdover from the "olden" days when it was often requested to complete forms in BLOCK letters when printing. I don't know who dreamt up those old protocols, but it was often demanded that forms completed by hand were to be done in printed capital, or block letters.
I don't find all caps easier to read, but someone must have- maybe they are more uniform than lower case.
__________________ Anne Marie
I was born with nothing, and I still have most of it.
Or export them all into Excel and use the =proper function to take away all the caps, then import an update. I always do this on email addresses and names before importing into RE. Why do people write their details all in CAPS? I don't get it...
Doesn't the =proper function capitalize letters after non-letters? So you'd end up with:
Code:
JOE.EXAMPLE@AOL.COM
turning into
Code:
Joe.Example@Aol.Com
which, considering the fact that email addresses aren't case-sensitive, isn't a big deal, but it does look kind of weird.
I think for the same reason some people write in all lowercase...laziness. In my opinion receiving email in all lowercase shows ignorance and/or disrespect.
As a young whipper-snapper who stops using her shift key the moment she leaves the office, I resemble that remark!
. . . I'm actually quite a stickler for clarity, by temperament and by education. It's just that I find clarity doesn't always require traditional capitalization (and often doesn't require punctuation--do we really need a period if there's no sentence immediately following?). Words and syntax are much more important, in my mind.
However, I do know correct form, and I'm not afraid to use it. I always deploy correct form in less-casual contexts like work emails, or forms that are going into someone else's database. Especially forms. I've been the person who cleans up that stuff, so I try to not be an annoyance.
It's all about context! It drives me nuts when people are insensitive about their audience.
__________________ Melissa Haferkamp
Matching Gifts Coordinator
University of Arizona Foundation
haferkamp [at] al [dot] arizona [dot] edu
I don't find all caps easier to read, but someone must have- maybe they are more uniform than lower case.
Studies have shown that people actually read more based on the shape of the word than the actual letters. Lowercase letters have a wide variety of shapes with some letters having ascenders and some having descenders and some having neither. These shapes help to distinguish words.
Capital letters have similar heights, so they are much harder to read.
In fact, there's an internet myth running around based on this. The claim (which has been disproved) is that as long as the first and last letters are kept in place, you can mix up the rest of the letters and still recognize the words easily. The example sent with this claim uses a lot of short words, where there are very few options for mixing up the remaining letters. One of the studies disproving this myth, says that reversing the remaining letters causes it to be more difficult to read. It also seems likely, although I'm not aware of a study on this, that grouping similar shaped letters together will make it much harder to read. For example,
Code:
ccooetllin
Drew
__________________ J. Drew Allen
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Crystal Reports and SQL Server Consultant
It is better to live your destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.
